Less than two minutes into the Hugh Boyd Trojans' home opener and head coach Bill Haddow was already wondering if it was going to be another forgetful outing for his football team.
Coming off a 31-0 loss to "AAA" powerhouse Lord Tweedsmuir a week earlier, Haddow watched the Handsworth Royals score a touchdown on their third play from scrimmage then successfully execute an onside kick. That's where the hosts dug in and turned what could have been a long night into a memorable one.
The Trojans defence came up huge the rest of the way, while their ground attack hit high gear en route to a wellearned 16-6 victory on a glorious evening for high school football.
Star running back Travis Coutts rushed for a whopping 216 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries, while Riley Galloway added 64 yards on 12 attempts.
"We did show some good patience after that tough start," said Haddow. "We were determined to keep running the football and the kids did a great job up front.
"Our passing game needs a lot of work but this only week two and we will be better."
Under head coach Jay Prepchuk, the Royals tested the Trojans secondary by putting the ball in the air frequently. The unit responded with an outstanding evening that actually carried over from the previous week.
Boyd forced five fumbles with a pair of recoveries by linebacker Kyler Mosley and others from Jordan Lee, Coutts and Galloway. Linebacker Kory Nagata also had a strong outing with a number of key tackles.
"Our defence is going to be fine," continued Haddow. "We played very well last week but were on the field far too often in poor field position too because we couldn't do anything on offence."
Lee added a 30-yard field goal and a convert. A good size crowd, that featured a number of current and former students, took in the action as Friday night football has grown into a tradition at the school.
"It really is a big event for our kids," added Haddow. "They get so excited to play on a Friday night at our school and, over the years, other coaches who see the game film can't believe we are the same team (they have seen elsewhere). That's how pumped are kids are."
The Trojans travel to Abbotsford on Friday to face Robert Bateman in a rematch of last year's opening round playoff win. They open "AA" conference play a week later at South Delta.
